Nick Russell is an evangelist for the Church Army at the Greenwich Centre of Mission where he works across several housing estates in South East London, connecting with some 500 children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds through the Superkidz clubs and other activities. St Saviour’s Church Eltham has no incumbent but the Church Army run it and Nick is the evangelist there with responsibility for the running of it.
His work load keeps him busy for up to 70 hours a week.
Highlights
- Praise God for the team’s response to Covid-19 sudden changes and restrictions in response to guidelines that reduce the number of people at clubs
- Praise God for the loyal attitude of a young offender alleged to have stabbed a person who attacked him twice: he knows that I have to appear as a prosecution witness.
- Praise God for new members of JLJL youth church
- Praise God for strengthening relationships with young offenders and at risk young people at our Sunday detached youth work
- Praise God for the offer from a supporting church of 12 Christmas hampers for our neediest vulnerable adults
Please pray for:
- Our continual efforts to share the gospel among young people and their families in a context where the pandemic has made the idea of a loving God seem even more unrealistic than before. Please pray for wisdom and the right kinds of communication, and for God to lead and inspire. Please pray that our hearts and lives will bear faithful, loving and effective witness to Jesus.
- the children and wider family of a mother murdered by her partner who we have supported in the past and who suffers from addiction and mental illness.
- permanent housing for a victim of domestic violence and the children she cares for
- A young offender and his partner who have drifted back into drug abuse and drug dealing, for their baby son and for good social services intervention
- A young offender just released from prison who appears to be returning to drug dealing and its associated risks of violence. Please also pray for his brother who is not yet released. Both have turned to violence in the past. Please pray for our work to rehabilitate them and young people like them.
- A way forward and people resources for a new fresh expression of church aimed at young families and teenagers
- Better attendance for online services for the main church and for Play n Pray Church
- A family moved into a larger home by the Council because of severe needs of their baby son, but struggling because the heating is not working and there are no carpets or curtains.
- Tenacity and wisdom in how to enforce social distancing and hygiene among young people and vulnerable adults who have little idea of covid precautions.
- St Saviour’s Church & Hall – Please pray for ventilation and heating projects to cater for Covid requirements and make the premises safe for worship and mission.
- Coffee Stop/Friendship Church – As our vulnerable adults continue to be without this activity because of the difficulty some of them face in social distancing and other precautions, please pray for them and for a way to reach those who are not conversant with online technology. Please pray that we can find a way of safe face to face opening.
- JLJL Youth Church – Please pray that the young people will increasingly understand their own responsibility for spreading the gospel and being God’s workers in the world.
- Superkids
- Children’s and Carer’s Support Groups – Please pray that we can continue to run safely, and for our Christmas parties that they will be fun and safe. We are allowed to run them with invitees and limited numbers, which means multiplying the sessions to allow numbers to attend.
- Youth Support Groups – Please pray for the work of mentoring while we maintain social distancing, and the additional youth session.
- Stay n Play – Please pray for a new ‘Forest School’ approach for the Horn Park group as the community hall is no longer available for this. Please pray about how we can open the Middle Park group safely